🚨 I’ll be live at 11:30 a.m. ET with Jeffry🚨
We’ll share the report with today’s top Income Harvester trades, break down our personal setups, discuss what’s moving markets and more [tap to join us for Market Masters]
A while back, I was all over iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Loved the setup. Bitcoin was trending up. Everything looked great on paper.
Then I walked away completely.
Not because Bitcoin tanked. Not because the chart broke. But because of one number most traders barely glance at: Beta.
I’ve learned that when beta changes, the entire personality of a trade changes with it. And that’s what happened here.
When Beta Dies, I Walk
When beta drops, you lose two huge advantages.
First, the premium you collect from selling options goes way down. Lower volatility means thinner premiums. If I’m not getting paid, I’m not interested.
Second, and even more important, high beta lets you sit much deeper out of the money (OTM) while still collecting meaningful premium.
When it’s high, you can get ridiculously deep OTM on names like Sandisk (SNDK) or Western Digital (WDC) — almost comically far — with very high probability you won’t be assigned.
And if you are, it’s a gift. That margin of safety disappears the moment beta collapses.
That’s exactly what happened with IBIT. At one point its beta was close to 3.0, and we were selling puts comfortably OTM every week. The premiums were great and the distance from the strike felt like a cushion.
Then beta dropped hard, and suddenly the only way to collect anything decent was to sell much closer to the stock price. I don’t want to sell strikes that close, even if I’m fine owning the shares.
For me, there are two independent exit triggers: if beta falls or the trend breaks. If either one goes, the trade is done. No emotion, no debate.
There’s always another opportunity and I move on quickly. Lately that’s meant keeping an eye on Robinhood (HOOD) or Planet Labs (PL) when they start showing the right mix of trend and volatility, while passing on others that ran too far too fast.
How I Filter for Beta and Why Platform Matters
Different platforms calculate beta differently.
Some use a 60-month lookback, which I think is far too long. What’s happening now matters much more than what happened five years ago.
A stock can heat up today and show high beta immediately, but a long lookback averages that away.
So always check how your platform calculates it. You want a number that reflects current movement, not old history.
My rule is simple: I want beta above 1.5 before I even consider a position. Higher is better. Higher beta gives you bigger premiums and lets you stay deeper OTM, which is exactly what I want.
And here’s the part most people never realize: even in strong markets the list of qualifying tickers is tiny. Sometimes it’s 60 names, sometimes it’s barely 30.
You’re sorting for a very elite group. A free screener like Finviz.com works perfectly for that — no login needed.
At the end of the day, I stay ruthless about this.
If a stock doesn’t have the beta I need, I don’t care how much I like the company or how bullish the story looks. I’ll pass every single time.
Now remember to join us live weekdays at 11:30 a.m. ET for Market Masters!
Market Masters exists to help traders build confidence and generate income through proven options education and strategies, live at 10:30 a.m. ET Monday-Friday.
Trade well,
Jack Carter
Jack Carter Trading
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*This is for informational and educational purposes only. There is inherent risk in trading, so trade at your own risk.
P.S. Wall Street Is Moving Money Right Now for SummerÂ
The next couple of months could bring some very unusual market action.
Every summer, Wall Street tends to shift capital into a different group of stocks while many traders are still focused on the usual names.
The interesting part?
These rotations aren’t random.
After more than a decade of research, trade data, and seasonal market analysis…
I built a detailed Summer Stock Calendar designed to track when certain stocks have historically started moving.
It includes specific stocks, specific setups, and even the periods where momentum has tended to appear most often.
I revealed the full breakdown during the Summer Stock Roundtable earlier today.
If you missed it, you still have another chance to access it free.
Inside, you’ll see:
• Stocks historically favored during the summer rotation
• Key dates tied to potential momentum shifts
• Setups I’ll be watching closely over the next few months
No guarantees in trading, of course.
But if you want the same summer roadmap I’m using myself…
